All four kids had their well child checkups recently.  During his, the Super Kid mentioned to his pediatrician that he gets some bad chest pain during cross country that takes a while to go away.  Because of family history as well as the fact that the Super Kid has a wonky EKG, Dr M wanted him to see cardiology.  He saw a different doctor than Iz sees but Dr S was incredibly thorough.  EKG is still wonky but not worryingly so and his echo was fine.  In our last state that would have been the end of it but Dr S was determined to figure out why the Super Kid was having pain.  She set him up to do a pulmonary-cardio stress test so he did breathing tests, ran on the treadmill, more breathing tests.  Everything looked normal and in fact, his results put him in the 75th percentile for his age so he did better with everything than the average kid his age being tested.  So she had us see a physical therapist for an evaluation and we found the culprit!  Some of his muscles were incredibly tight and therefore significantly shortened and was pulling his shoulders out of position.  And the muscles between his ribs were very tight and shortened.  The PT did a lot of stretches and exercises with the  Super Kid and by the time they were done, his shoulders had naturally moved about 4 inches o_O  He has exercises to do at home to continue to stretch and loosen those muscles to get everything in its proper place and that should stop the chest wall pain.  If it starts  hurting again, we can call up PT and they'll bring the Super Kid in to work on those muscles some more.  I'm glad Dr S was thorough and determined to help :D

Update

School has started back up again.  The Busy Little B and the Super Kid are back to school, Baby W (who isn't really a baby anymore, is he?) starts preschool after Labor Day, and Miss Iz is homeschooled again this year--we will formally start once W goes to school so we can focus without toddler interruptions :p

The Busy Little B is back on his trileptal.  Neuro left us hanging--he might night be having the abnormal brain activity but all those secondary symptoms were back with a vengeance.  The obsessive compulsiveness was really hard for everyone.  We saw his psychiatrist and he prescribed the trileptal again--we started to see a difference within hours of that first dose.  Luckily we already know the med works and it is also used for mood stabilization in psychiatry so he could go back on it.  It is suspected B may have OCD but Dr C says the meds typically used to treat OCD can have some pretty harsh side effects so we don't want to try them with B unless absolutely necessary.  When he gets older, we will probably need to do the evaluations to confirm or rule out OCD but for now the trileptal makes the symptoms manageable and improves his quality of life so that's the plan for now.  Trileptal is one of the "safer" meds and he's been on them for years with no bad side effects so I'm good with the plan :)

Miss Iz continues to improve with her anxiety responses but she's not ready yet to return to school.  She realllllly wants to, though.  She's a little confused why the adults at school can't just help her through anxiety attacks the way I do.  She says everyone knows if she gets too upset, you just need to step in and give her tight squeezes so she can calm down so why won't they?  But the school has a complete hands off policy so while I, as her parent, can step in and help her physically when she gets overwhelmed, the school will not, so she continues at home while we work on her ability to self soothe.  We talk a lot about the fact that she does not have to stay calm because everyone has Big Feelings and it is perfectly okay to express those Big Feelings but we do have to stay in control so we are expressing Big Feelings in ways that are appropriate for the situation.  Her therapist is pleased with the approach we are taking and has noticed a big difference during their sessions.

The Super Kid is really into electronics and computers and has a soldering station set up in his room so he can work on stuff.  He is now my go to when I have something that needs repair :p  Screen broken?  He'll replace it!  Charging port is loose?  He'll solder it back in place!  I think I see the computer and technology high school in his future :p  He has been riding his bike a lot to build up his leg muscles and stamina because cross country is starting on Monday.  He really enjoys cross country and its good for him, too!  Last year all the practices and meets led to less anxiety and a calming down of the hyperactivity.  He declined to do track last spring but I'm hoping this year he will do track as well.

EEG was normal and so we are left with no plan and no direction on getting a plan.  I have come to despise this neurologist.

The Busy Little B is fully off his Trileptal. Things have been......challenging.  Two weeks until EEG day and we can get a new plan in place!

W had his last sessions of OT and speech--it will be so strange not to have those appointments anymore.  We still have OT, speech, therapy, swim, and ESY to keep us busy, though ;)

Iz has really been struggling with impulse control lately. She knows things aren't allowed but she's doing them anyway and then gets so frustrated and mad at herself because she says she knows better and doesn't know why she did it.  It is frustrating for all of us.  We just keep slogging along with the suggestions of the therapist but *sigh* I wish it was a quick easy fix instead

School is out and things are so busy

Isn't school ending supposed to make things more relaxed?

We still have tons of appointments and ESY and evaluations and things have been hectic.

The Busy Little B is weaning off his trileptal and let me tell you, it is not fun.  His level of obsessive compulsiveness has dramatically increased and it makes things so hard on everyone.  I will be so glad when July 13th comes and he has his EEG so things can move forward again and we can get a treatment plan in place again.  All of these symptoms coming back are making things so miserable for him :(

W is turning three so his speech and OT services are ending.  He will be going to the preschool program in the fall so speech and OT will start again in the fall.  It is very hard to get OT through the school system here so I was really surprised he is not only getting OT but he's getting more than he did through birth to three!  He scored really low during his evaluations :\

The Busy Little B saw the neurologist and it was frustrating.  Since she's convinced he no longer has seizures (and she's insistent maybe he never did because how his previous neuros treated him isn't how she would treat someone with absence seizures), she doesn't seem that interested in helping with the secondary symptoms that were helped by the seizure med that are now returning full force that we are weaning him from the med.  She just kept talking about how she'll discharge him as soon as the upcoming unmedicated EEG shows he's fine.  *grumble and exasperated sighs*

Miss Iz's OT told me she's so impressed with Iz's control over her anxiety.  Miss J has been pushing boundaries with Iz, asking her to do things that are more and more difficult and frustrating for her.  It is needed to help her progress but it wasn't that long ago that Iz wouldn't have been able to handle it--now, she's employing her calm down strategies and working through things :)  We are so proud of her!

The Busy Little B also had a good session--he appears to have taken a shine to his new OT, Miss R.  He is connecting with her and eager to work for her and has been doing his OT homework at home so he can tell her all about it and how well he did.  I was worried it would be a hard transition for him, especially since he didn't mesh well with all of the "fill-in" OTs he saw until Miss R came to work there.

Park OT!

It was a nice morning so we met Miss K at a nearby park for OT.  W had a great time!  Miss K brought her weighted ball and they carried it about, rolled it down the slide, played hide and seek.  W worked on all sorts of skills and stayed fairly focused.  It was an excellent session

Last week of school!

The kids were off on Monday so only four days of school in the last week.  Hard to believe tomorrow is their last day!

Both the Busy Little B and Iz had really good OT sessions on Tuesday.  They both worked hard and their OTs are pushing them out of their comfort zone to work on more and more difficult (to them) stuff.  B also had speech.  Since he's only been going to the rehab for speech for a short time, they are still doing further evaluations with him and developing his treatment plan.  His old SLP was working on his conversational skills as well as articulation and that was helping but the rehab center wants to go a bit further and help him with organizing his thoughts and coordinating speech so things go a bit smoother for him.  So often he has so much to say and just can't figure out how to get it out!  They've done wonders for  him through OT so I'm excited to see what speech comes up with :)

W had speech this morning--he got mad at me and then refused to speak to his speech therapist.  He did lots of humming and grunting and much of it sounded like words and she understand most of what he tried to say. We were joking that he has a future as a ventriloquist LOL

Three Day Weekend

We have a three day weekend for Memorial Day and the Super Kid and Busy Little B are grumpy over it because they don't want to miss school :p  Next Friday is their last day and they don't think they should have to give up any of their days of school because there are so few left LOL  Not that long ago, they didn't want to go, now they are sad they can't.  Silly kids

obsessive behaviors

My Busy Little B has been having a hard week.  The rigidity in his thought patterns has been getting worse and he's been fixating on things a lot lately.  Small deviations in "normal" are overwhelming.  He had to take a mental health day from school Friday because he just couldn't handle multiple things being "wrong"--he spent a lot of time rocking back and forth, pacing, doing repetitive movements/actions trying to deal with the changes in his world.  Once school is out, we have to wean him off his trileptal to get an unmedicated EEG and I am not looking forward to it AT ALL.  Starting the trileptal years ago really helped with the fixations and obsessiveness.  The increase in the behaviors now is coming on after a recent growth spurt--neuro did not increase his trileptal to match the growth.  *sigh*  The next few months are going to need a lot of patience on everyone's part!

Today was just not a good appointment day for the Busy Little B.  He had another OT and while he's worked with her before, he doesn't mesh well with her.  She does great with Iz and the Super Kid but chances are always high B will just shut down on her.  She challenges his rigid ideas of how things need to go, he overloads, he shuts down.  She ended their session early and I did some deep pressure and massage to help calm down his system and he attempted speech therapy but they also ended early because he just couldn't pull himself out.  The SLP was very nice and understanding and told him that it was okay because we all get overloaded sometimes and need to take a break and they'd try again next week (he looks forward to speech all week and was so excited to go today :( ).  Next week he will begin working with Miss A's replacement so no more musical chairs with OTs and I'm hoping that will help.  Consistency is good for B!  I just hope the new OT can form a bond with him so he's less likely to get overwhelmed!

Miss Iz did really well in OT.  Miss J said she did an awesome job taking turns with other kids in the therapy room and they worked on things that challenge her and she worked hard and stayed calm when frustrated :)

The Super Kid was supposed to have OT as well but they had to reschedule because there wasn't an OT available.  He'll be seeing the same OT as B starting next week so it will be good we don't have to cancel and reschedule all the time!

Registration for summer swim lessons opened up so I got the kids all signed up.  One thing I was looking forward to was being able to get a better-for-us time slot and well, that didn't happen.  The better time slot is during B's ESY (extended school year) :|  So we had to stay at the same evening time *sigh*  At least in summer bedtime is a bit later so its not such a rush :p  Each of the three big kids is signed up for two sessions but poor W only gets one.  They aren't doing parent-child lessons over the summer and he can't enroll in the preschool lesson until he's three.  So he can't do session one.  But session two starts a couple days after his third birthday :)  My baby is growing up!  He'll be going in the pool for lessons without me :p  Miss Iz thinks I should put my suit on anyway and be in the water swimming so I'll be right there, just in case.  She's worried the swim instructor will have too many kids to keep an eye on :p

Happy Mother's Day!

We are in the home stretch

of the Busy Little B's OT and it scares me :p

He is up for recertification so they are updating his goals and she thinks by the time the next recert comes up in three months, he will have met all his goals and be ready for discharge.  He has made so much progress since we switched OT to the rehab center and that is fantastic but I am also so nervous that stopping OT will also stop progress and possibly cause a regression.  Is it bad I'm  hoping he can't quite hit those goals in three months so we can go longer?  It is just so good for him I don't want to give it up!

The Super Kid is Awesome

He signed up for the Orchestra contest for the school district and his time slot was this morning.  He prepared a piece to play solo and performed in front of the judge this morning.  The judges are professional musicians and they give the performers feedback on how they can improve and what they do really well.  The Super Kid has pretty bad anxiety so this was so so hard for him but he powered through and did it!  I am so proud of him!  The judge told him to work on timing (he plays violin) and gave him an example of what she meant that made sense to him (she said a sentence with really odd spacing/pauses and told him playing music with the wrong timing is very similar to having the wrong pauses in a sentence--it sounds off and smoother playing sounds better).  He was so excited at how well he did and how nice the judge was :)

We stopped to buy dog food on the way.  Usually I am not a fan of shopping with all four because they tend to be hyper and want things and its stressful but today?  I think my children have been replaced or something.  They listened, they behaved, they were polite, they were calm.  Is it just finally "clicking"? :p

Finally saw the OT again

We've been putting off W's OT appointment for weeks now.  First it was the stomach bug so we postponed a week.  Then it was the walking Nyquil Ad so we postponed another week (the OT has a little itty bitty baby at home so she and I both are cautious about exposing Miss K to the germs--I don't want her carrying them home to the little one!).  Then Miss K had something come up with her own kiddos and we had to postpone another week :p  So today, the stars aligned finally and she came =)

W started out so cooperative and was talking up a storm then he got all shy and just wanted to sit on my lap and hide his face.  Then the switch flipped and he was back to being Mr. Chatty and wanted to play all the games.  Overall, it was a good session for him :)

W and Miss Iz ran errands with me today--we spread our grocery shopping out over three stores, a feat I do not normally attempt all in one day but they did really well with all of the in and out and walking about.  We even got complements from several people at a couple of stores about how sweet and smart and polite the kids were!

Miss Iz and I have been working on her "th" blends during school--she really wants to be able to say thirteen (it sounds like fourteen when she says it and it throws her counting off because as she's rattling off numbers, she skips fourteen because she just said it).  So we've been practicing correct tongue positioning and such and when she's focused, she does really well.  Today she practiced up a storm!  She wore one of her Star Wars teachers and told people "May the Fourth Be With You!"  She was adorable :)

Speech on the wrong day!

Over the weekend, W's SLP texted asking to switch days so we had speech today instead of tomorrow.  He was really chatty today and really paid attention (some days he is just all over the place).  They played Barnyard Bingo and he had a blast.  They just filled all the "cards" up and he practiced say the colors and names of the animals and then they put the animal discs back in the barn.  She also had a little portable kitchen and he absolutely loved that--the kid loves kitchens and cooking and food.  I wish they still sold that set because it would be awesome to have (its really old, though).

Miss Iz was on fire this morning when it came to school work!  She did everything on her list plus extra and did really really well on everything.  She is still insistent she can't read because she doesn't know every word ever but she is reading the simpler words and sounding out the harder ones.  When she's focused, she reads a bunch of stuff without realizing it and forgets to ask for help LOL

We are enjoying the spring weather--the last few days have been in the sixties (and 85 on Monday!) so we are spending lots of time outside and at the park :)

Can we get another Poor B?  Yet another OT today (at least they didn't cancel?) but it was another speech therapist as well!  Looking ahead at the schedule, his speech therapist keeps changing as well.  I wish they'd get some more consistency :p  Its not all bad--one reason we moved his speech to the rehab center is because they do have so many SLPs and the other place only had one so scheduling is hard over there and at the rehab center there are choices if someone leaves/calls off.  But it does work better if he has multiple sessions with the same person and develops a rapport.  Hopefully it settles down soon.  On the positive side, he took it all in stride and was cheerful and cooperative yesterday. Much better than the silence of a few weeks ago.

Miss Iz also has OT and she was a little wild :p  Miss J had to redirect a lot but when Iz focused, she did really well.  They were working on body awareness as she's been a bit clumsy lately and keeps running into things and falling.  A problem all of my seekers have!  Funnily enough, when the Super Kid came back later, he also worked with Miss J and she had him do some of the same activities as Iz because he needs to work on body awareness as well :p

The Super Kid also worked more on his letter/number reversals.  She did some vision work with him as well (she's trained in visual processing disorder, something his old OT a few years ago thought he might have.  He does fairly well in most areas but those reversals have plagued him for years).  No one has ever been able to find a reason for the reversals (he has a reading learning disability but not dyslexia).  He was diagnosed with Dyspraxia many many years ago so its possibly related to that--the coordination issues between brain and actions appear to effect many systems so maybe?  We may never find out!  But he keeps working on them and he does have fewer reversals than years ago so maybe someday he'll have learned to compensate for all of them (although when I'm really tired, I revert back to reversing certain letters and numbers so I guess its never completely compensated for in my case ;) )

And another entry starts with Poor B.....

Poor B.  He loves going to OT and looks forward to it and they cancelled his second session this week :(  Now that Miss A is gone, they are trying to cover her patients with the other OTs until they can replace her but there just aren't enough slots to go around.  Honestly, I'm a little annoyed, though.  I'm so happy for Miss A that she find a full time spot but one of the other therapists told me that they are moving a part-time therapist up to full-time in May and adding another part-time therapist as well to cover Miss A and because the schedule is picking up.  But Miss A had to go elsewhere because there weren't any full-time spots.  Why the heck not give Miss A the full-time spot and keep her?  She is fantastic, they all admitted she was fantastic, my kids have made more progress with her than the other OTs they've worked with, and many many other families have had such good progress with her.  So I'm grumpy not only that they "lost" her but also that the two of my kids who saw her keep getting cancelled on :(

B did have a dentist appointment later that afternoon so that somewhat made up for missing OT.  What a difference a good dentist makes!  When B was younger, he was "fired" by so many dentists because of behavior (fidgety, scared, anxious, crying, refusing to open his mouth, etc).  We found a pediatric dentist who was very patient with him and worked with him to help him get more comfortable but he still had a very hard time.  When we moved to our new state, we hit the jackpot with our first dentist choice--all of my kids love Dr. D and look forward to seeing him.  They are so cooperative and do fantastic :)

Poor B--he had two new therapists yesterday!  Luckily his OT is someone he knows and has worked with before so he had no problem working hard for her.  He loves her and so when she fills in for Miss A, he is happy to go with her.  It would be awesome if she gets to be Miss A's replacement once the dust settles down and they have all of Miss A's clients assigned out to other therapists.  He was so happy with OT that when a new speech therapist came to work with him, he was comfortable and chatty :)

Miss Iz also had OT and they did some feeding therapy and she was not only willing to try everything presented to her but she actually ate it as well :p

The Busy Little B had his very last social skills group--he's so sad their meetings are over :(  The last class was at the bowling alley so they could practice their skills in a real world setting.  I rented the lane next to the group so the other kids could bowl.  I haven't been bowling in an incredibly long time and discovered my wrists can handle my old weight (thanks EDS!) so I had to use a ball that was way too light and my first time six year old bowler had a better score than I LOL

Stop it Spring!

A couple days after the Spring Blizzard, we got six inches of heavy wet snow.  Under that heavy wet snow is a layer of gooey mud from the melted blizzard snow so my main vehicle is now stuck in the mud :|  Fun times during Mud Season!

Miss Iz has been working on some new sensory strategies with her OT and has been doing a great job.  She keeps Miss J on her toes as things will work great for a while and then Iz gets desensitized to them and they have to start over to find something else.  But she is enjoying the new activities, especially the kids yoga, and shows off the new things she is learning at home :)

The Busy Little B is making tons of progress with his OT but we expect to see some regression soon because Miss A is leaving :(  She is wonderful and he has made so much progress with her but she was only part time and she found a full time position.  As much as I want to keep her, she can't pass up full time :p  I wish the rehab center had a full time spot for her so she could stay :(  B doesn't always do well with change so it might be a hard transition for him.  We had to switch speech therapists recently and he won't say a word to the new therapist.  He will nod or shake his head and smile at her but that's it.  Hopefully he adjusts soon and starts talking to her :p  So it will not surprise anyone if he does the bare minimum at OT with a new therapist until he adjusts.

The Super Kid is also making good progress on his goals in OT but he's been recertified for another session because he's not met the goals and they adjusted a few.  One of the main things we started for was handwriting and it has improved so much!  He's a leftie with hand strength issues plus learning disabilities that effect handwriting so the fact that his print is so clear now is fantastic.  He's still struggling with some reversals and spacing issues and the quality of his writing is still going downhill after some time writing but its progress!  He's quite proud of how nice he can make it look when he first starts writing :)  Those hand strengthening exercises will help with how long he can write, too.

Little W will be doing some testing soon as he ages out of the Birth to Three program to see if the school system will pick up his services.  OT is so hard to get through the school i doubt they will continue that but maybe speech.  He's improved so much but he's still hard to understand--his articulation isn't the best :p  I may need to get him evaluated at the rehab center to continue his services privately if he doesn't qualify to transition to the school system's services.

We survived the Spring Blizzard!  A bit over fourteen and a half inches of snow fell and before the snow started we had multiple instances of hail and severe thunderstorms.  Fun times, y'all, fun times ;)

Picked up the Busy Little B from school and had a nice long talk with his teacher about his progress and behavior. He's come a long way from the beginning of the year!  Now that they've identified the learning disabilities, working with him is more targeted and those concepts he really struggled to learn are coming easier. He's coping well :)  The twice a week OT is really helping his ability to multi-task and coordinate his thoughts.  And the social skills group is working!  He's interacting more with his peers and able to participate better in group work.  He starts speech again next week :)

He had OT and another good report from Miss A.  She's so pleased with his hard work, even when he's frustrated and struggling.  They have a LOT of goals for him so she rotates through what they work on and try to address the things that will help the most if we are having any current problems.  He has really connected with her :)

We can't get away from The Sick!

This is a miserable cold.  I am a walking Nyquil ad, Baby W has the runny nose and sneezes, Iz woke this morning with the sore throat and runny nose, and now we are just waiting to see if the Busy Little B and the Super Kid get it.  Everyone who is ill is grumpy.

Yesterday we took it easy, only one appointment for the Super Kid to do OT.  We were supposed to have speech this morning for W but I let the SLP know about the Nyquil Ad our house has become and she decided to stay away.  Can't blame her!  I was hoping we'd be up to a makeup swim lesson after missing Tuesday but that's not happening.

Return to appointments. Mostly

I am still sick and Baby W is a little, too, so we skipped his swim lesson on Tuesday.  His teacher has several classes for his age group throughout the week and is fine if we show up for any of them so hopefully we will be well enough for one later this week!

Our day wasn't too restful, though, as all those errands we've been putting off since last week got done :p  Post office, oil change place, Costco, Aldi, etc.  Picked the Busy Little B up from school so he and Miss Iz could go to occupational therapy.  Then B has social skills group.  And then off to home for chores and dinner (thanks, crock pot!).

Hello, flu, you are not my old friend

We've been battling the flu or something.  It has been miserable!  I got the worst of it (because OF COURSE) and days later I'm still running on low.  Recovering and all but I'm so tired from the simplest of things. The Super Kid has been awesome, though--he cooked a hot meal for the kids all by himself (usually I'm at least supervising and helping a little during cooking lessons or when he attempts something on his own) instead of taking the easy way out and serving sandwiches or oatmeal or something.  So very proud of him :)

I had to cancel a bunch of appointments last week (a few were already skipping a week because of spring break) but the new week is starting soon so we'll be back at it :p

Psychiatrist day

The kids see their psychiatrist every couple of months to check in on how they are doing.  He manages all the ADHD meds and the anxiety meds and I love that he is so involved in their care.  Back in our last state, meds were only checked up on every 6-12 months unless I requested a review.  While doses rarely change, I like that Dr. C spends an hour or two with all of them every few months so he's gotten to know them and he talks things over with them, even if its yet another monologue on the joys of video games ( ;) ) so when issues do arise, he can actually  help us with it because he knows our family dynamic and what types of suggestions may work with us.

We talked a lot about the Busy Little B's OCD tendencies.  I don't say that lightly--when he was younger and going through testing for autism, OCD came up a lot.  They said he was too young for a diagnosis but that it was definitely something we'd need to watch and it would not be surprising if he got the diagnosis later on.  Some of his rigidity/obsessions is starting to interfere with daily life, especially at school, but it isn't causing things to come to a full stop.  At the moment we can work around these things and Dr C says some of the medications that help with OCD have side effects that we don't want to mess with unless we have to so we keep watching, keep doing therapy, keep working with the school to find ways to get his work done without disturbing his set-in-stone points.  At home I work with him on calm ways to work with his "rules" so he can solve the problem but if they try to challenge him on them at school, its a bit of a disaster.  I think they've decided to leave the working on those to me and his therapist because last conversation we had about it, they were just working his "rules" into their day so he would continue to work on his schoolwork instead of obsessing :p

We have a Level Two Swimmer!

We had a busy day on Thursday!

W had speech first thing and boy, was he excited!  He chattered to Miss H from the moment she arrived and couldn't wait to "pay!" with her.  She brought a doll house and he really loved it.  

It was late start day for the Super Kid so he got to hang around during speech and then got ready to school while Iz and W and I got ready to go to open swim.

The Busy Little B had early dismissal so we picked him up early and had some time to relax before heading off to OT.  

And it was the big kids very last swim lesson for this session (the next one starts after school is out).  At the end, they get their completion certificates and a prize (candy usually).  We had a graduate!  And it wasn't the kid we thought.  The Super Kid got his level one certification card and will be in Level 2 next time.  He's so proud of himself.  Iz was so close but she didn't quite nail swimming on her back.  She's slightly disappointed but more excited than anything because Miss M wrote "you are so close!" on her certificate LOL

Now it is Spring Break and everyone is off school for a few days (they go back Wednesday)

Daredevil feats

The Super Kid had OT and one thing they've been doing lately is obstacle courses because it works on balance, coordination, core strength, motor planning, and executive functioning all at once.  They had the Super Kid set up his  own obstacle course this time and the OT was certain he couldn't do it because some of the jumps were really far and the moves to get through complicated.  But the Super Kid is rather reticent in public (thanks, anxiety) so she didn't realize just what a daredevil he can be :p  She knows now!  He did all the crazy moves and beat his course.

The last crazy Tuesday

I am so glad the Tuesday schedule is going to be easing up a little.  I had come to dread Tuesdays and how packed and stressful they are with the constant moving from one appointment to another.

This week is the last week of swim lessons and the next session will be after school is out (they have one more lesson on Thursday) so now we can go home after social skills group for the Busy Little B instead of rushing off to the pool.  And near the end of April the social skills group will be over as well so we'll have our evenings back for the rest of the school year :)  Not having to eat dinner late and going to bed on time will be greatly appreciated :p

OT went well for both the Busy B and Miss Iz.  B's therapist is really pleased with his progress and it is showing in school and at swim as well!  He has trouble processing multiple things at once so coordination and multi-tasking really suffer but since starting his twice a week OT he's shown so much improvement!  He still struggles a lot more than your "average" kid his age but compared to his abilities at the beginning of the year, he's come a long way!  Miss A is really really good for him :D  Iz's therapist, Miss J, has been really pushing Iz's boundaries so they can work on her strategies for dealing with frustration and sensory overload.  Miss J had to really back off on that type of thing earlier this year because Iz was spiraling out of control due to everything happening with school.  She regressed so far over the fall and early winter :(  But she has really bounced back!  I'd say we aren't quite back to where we were at the end of summer just yet but we are getting there.  Just last night she was in sensory overload at the pool and she shouted at everyone that they needed to JUST BE QUIET.  While this wasn't an appropriate response because you can't just scream at everyone, it was a better response than a few weeks ago when she had to be physically removed from the pool while she lashed out at everyone in reach :\  Baby steps?  (and while none of the adults stopped being loud and the music was still blaring and it was still very very loud in the pool, the kids stopped shouting and calling her name and trying to talk to her and she was able to focus and do her task).

We have a swimmer!

I picked the Busy Little B up from school the other day and it was such a nice day, in the fifties and sunny and warm enough to not need your coat.  We went and filled up the tank and took the long way around to B's OT appointment to enjoy the sunshine.

He had a really good OT session--they worked on an activity that is normally a source of frustration but he stayed cheerful and focused and determined to defeat the activity (everything right now for him is in terms of conquering and defeating.  He wants to be a knight).  The work they are doing on multi-tasking is really helping at school!

Miss Iz also had a good therapy session and talked about what had  been happening since her last session (she often feels anxious talking about the highs and lows of her week and refuses to participate.  We do what was the high point of your day and the low point of your day at the dinner table periodically to try to get her comfortable with the concept and it seems to help).  The "bad" days tend to stick out but if you really look at it, her emotions and responses to it are much more even and appropriate overall than when we pulled her from school.  Progress is always good :)

We went home for chores and dinner and then were off to swim again :)  This session of swim is almost over--they are going to be so sad when it ends.  Its great for them but I must admit I won't mind having my evenings back again ;)  W went to nursery and the Big Kids and I went to the pool and Iz had an awesome lesson!  Her instructor said if she keeps this up, she will graduate to Level Two.  Iz is SO EXCITED.  She wanted to master the skills in Level One and she did it :)  The Super Kid is *so close* to level two but he's still too timid and hasn't mastered floating because he's afraid of sinking.  Iz got over that fear and ticked off all the boxes to move on.  Poor B.  He's trying so so hard but he's still just too  uncoordinated to pass level one.  He's gotten better but there's a reason he's in OT twice a week to work on being able to process and execute multiple instructions at once :p  But I'm so proud of him because he keeps trying and improving and doesn't give up.

One less appointment!

The Super Kid had speech and OT tonight and he is now officially done with speech!  He stopped speech at school a few weeks back because while he was still working on that "r" sound, it wasn't effecting his schoolwork anymore because the teachers could understand him so they didn't meet the criteria to provide services at school.  But he was still doing private speech therapy and rapidly improving and he's now consistent enough that he doesn't need to keep going :)  He still has to work at it, though, since if he's not paying attention he'll slip back into old speech patterns but he's been pretty determined to master this and has worked on this sound for YEARS so I'm not too worried :)  His enunciation has improved so much the last few months!

The Long Day was a little easier

I got a call that The Busy Little B's social skills group was being rescheduled due to Dr. D not being able to make it. That meant our evening wasn't so hectic and gave me a little break! B handled the change in schedule like a champ and I was so proud of him for taking it in stride :)

I really like the change we made moving Miss Iz's OT from Monday to Tuesday.  Monday B rides the bus home now which saves me time and gas.  On Tuesday I pick him up, he and Iz see their OTs at the same time so I only have to entertain W in the waiting room and then we were off home.  Kids did their chores, I made dinner (lemon parmesan sheet pan chicken with potatoes and green beans.  It was really good!), we ate, gathered up all our swim stuff and headed off for lessons.

I usually have to keep W with me on Tuesdays because we are coming straight from social skills and don't have time to take him to nursery.  Since we didn't have social skills group, W went to nursery and that means a much more relaxed lesson for me :p  That boy is so squirmy and stubborn and is contantly trying to wriggle away from me because he wants in the pool.  Much nicer to let him play with the other kids and toys until everyone is done and showered and changed :)

Parent Teacher Conferences

The Super Kid had his parent teacher conferences this week.  What a difference a few years can make!  The teacher we had the conference with told me what a great kid he is, how hard working, how smart, good at school, enjoys his classes, has so many good things to add to discussions, etc etc.  Getting those learning disabilities diagnosed and then getting a school who was committed to getting him caught up was a huge turning point for him :)  He's caught up to his classmates (and passed them in some areas), he's in all gen ed classes now, he's found ways that work for him to learn and process and apply what he's learning so those learning disabilities aren't slowing him down :)  The only issue we have is he is still distractible and unorganized and any dips in grades aren't academic because he knows the material, its usually losing homework, forgetting to turn stuff in, etc.  His pro-time teacher (homeroom) wants to followup with his teachers and keep me updated if he's missing stuff so we can address it before grades get turned in because he's had that followup support daily in the past and it appears he's not quite ready to do it solo ;)  She's aiming for a weekly or bi-weekly checkin so he's still got the daily responsibility of getting it down but if he's slipping, we catch it before report cards.

Emotional Regulation

I was really proud of Miss Iz yesterday.  She did such a great job handling emotions!  She's been dealing with pretty severe anxiety ever since her open heart surgery at seven months old and has been in and out of therapy since shortly before she turned two.  As she grows and matures, the manifestation of her anxiety changes.  Adding an anxiety med last year helped as well and we moved from her very long selective mutism stage into what I call the "Fight or Flight" stage.

One of the things we deal with is the fact that regular ordinary frustrations for her age can often kickstart the anxiety and then we go from 0 to 300 in a very short amount of time.  She does OT as well as meets with a therapist to help and she and I do a lot of work at home.  She had been making big improvements and then school just set her back to the point we pulled her out.  She's made great strides again and those fight or flight outbursts are getting further and further apart.  Yesterday morning W had OT and then we ran errands to finish off our grocery shopping for the weekend and next week.  She did awesome navigating the crowds (sometimes just having so many people around puts her on high alert and it takes very little to tip her over the edge), she handled being told "no" to things like a champ, she listened to instructions fairly well.  She needed some reminders here and there but nothing escalated and she chose appropriate ways to express the emotions she was having.  She used her words, did her breathing, when we needed to we simply moved together to a quieter part of the store, we talked things out.

We talk a lot about how we all have big emotions and that that is okay and normal and we are supposed to have big emotions.  But we have to choose how to handle those big emotions--we can't hurt others or ourselves or destroy things.  We talk a lot about making safe choices and that even grownups have to still keep working on things, too.  She may not always be in control enough to make the choices she needs to (which is why she's homeschooled now--the school was unwilling to step in when needed to keep her and others safe.  She knows that if she's out of control, I'll step in to keep her safe.  She doesn't like getting "tight hugs" when she's upset but she's a smart kid and when she's calm, she can tell you she needs them, even when she can't ask for them), but she's working on making them a habit so she doesn't have to think about them.  We practice when she's calm and she's applying her calm down strategies to other people in the house.  I was irritated with W this morning because he kept trying to climb on me and almost knocked my coffee over and I asked him to get down and go into the living room--Iz came over and starting rubbing my back in long firm strokes and told me that pressure input is really good for staying calm when you start to get mad LOL (Iz's response to W irritating her is usually screaming and crying and we are working on that because the loud wailing won't fix the problem--using  her words will be more effective because then even if W doesn't stop because he's two, I can hear what the problem is and come help.  I used my words like she is supposed to tell W to stop and go in the other room but she figured some pressure input wouldn't hurt).  She's a funny, sweet, thoughtful little girl :)

Open Swim

Thursday was another open swim day.  I try to go to both every week because its great for my bad knee (thanks, EDS!).  When its just Iz and I, I do a lot of swimming but when W comes with me, I have to carry him the entire time so I spend a lot of time water walking forward and back and doing crossovers going sideways in both directions.  He normally loves going with me and was so excited to get ready

But after a few minutes in the water, he was such a Grumpy Gus.  He was "NO" to everything, fighting me holding him, kicking, trying to get out of the pool and leave.  He'd calm down and practice his "kicks and scoops" or jumping in and seem happy and then a few minutes later, grump grump grump.  Iz got in plenty of swim practice, at least!

After swim, we went home for lunch, then picked up the Busy Little B at school to take him to OT, then home again for dinner and to get the Super Kid, then right back to the gym for the Big Three to take their swim lessons :P  Iz was happy she got to swim twice in one day!

We had a common theme yesterday

We headed to the gym yesterday and dropped W off at nursery while Iz and I went to open swim.  She is doing great practicing her swim skills!  She realllllllly wants to graduate to the level two class so she's been working hard to conquer the last few skills she needs to leave level one :p  I'm not quite sure she's there yet even though she has made a lot of progress.  I also don't think she realizes moving to level two means leaving her beloved teacher Miss M behind because Miss A teaches level two.  We spent about 75 minutes in the pool and she did awesome handling corrections and frustrations.  She kept herself centered and calm, even when frustrated, and that's a skill we've been working on.

We ran to the grocery store and then home for lunch to pick the Busy Little B off at school.  W fell asleep in the car so it was good we had a gap between school pickup and our appointment time.  We filled up with gas and then took the long way around to enjoy the sunshine and a nice drive before going to the rehab center.

Both Iz and B had OT.  Both worked on things a little harder than they are used to.  Both of them did awesome in staying calm and collected and working hard on overcoming the challenges given to them.  Again, its a skill both have been working on, to keep calm and work through it rather than wailing/crying/pouting/shutting down/lashing out when they get frustrated.  Both of their OTs were pretty happy that they are doing better in that area both during therapy and at home, school, and at lessons!

We ran home again for a snack and to wait for the Super Kid to get home from school and then off to B's social skills group!  He had an awesome session--the kids did a scavenger hunt and had to work together and B did awesome handling frustration and was able to take turns and work with the others  in the group.  Our theme for the day was developing!  Stay cool and calm was the motto for our day apparently :P

After social skills group we rushed across time to get ready for swim lessons.  W was not all that happy at having to sit out at the side of pool (he wanted to swim!) but on Tuesdays I don't have time to check him in to the nursery so he sits with me.  All three kids did awesome (is that my word of the day?) in lessons and carried on our daily theme of cool, calm, and collected :p

May today go as well!

Talk talk talk all day long

W was so talkative on Thursday!  Which was perfect timing since he had speech :p  He had lots of fun with Miss H and Iz got to do some puzzles, too :)

We ran a few errands after speech then picked the Busy Little B up from school so he could go to OT.  He had a great session and we are noticing his mental coordination is improving so much in many different areas--this twice a week OT is helping so much!  I'm so glad we switched him over to the rehab center--he liked his OT at the children's hospital but he didn't make even a fraction of this progress in the year he was with her that he's made in a few months at the rehab center.

Miss Iz had therapy right after B's OT and then we were off home for a quick dinner and to pick up the Super Kid so we could head off to swim lessons.  W went to nursery and oh, boy, did he scream at being dropped off.  When we picked him back up, he was happy as a clam :p  He LOVES the ladies at the nursery and loves to play there and loves getting to be around the other little kids but he never ever remembers that love when I drop him off.

The Super Kid is almost done with speech!

Wednesday after school the Super Kid had both OT and speech.  He's been doing really well with OT despite his reluctance to do things in front of other people--they were able to get him to do some of the motor planning and core strength work despite his initial reluctance and then enjoyed doing it :p  They did an obstacle course and he admitted it was fun. ha!

Speech is coming along so nicely.  He goes every other week and they are focusing on conversational r's (the last sound he has to conquer.  He does well with the sound in individual words but its a bit harder to keep the sounds correct in sentences).  He has about a month left on his current script so if he can master that conversational use in that time, he'll be all done.  Otherwise, they'll renew the script and keep working.  He's been trying to get r down for YEARS so he's so pleased with himself (as he should be!) that he's made such huge progress since started therapy at the rehab center :)

Monday really was a day off

The sleet turned to snow on Monday and the school ended up cancelling all evening events so we really did get a day off.  And then we got a half day off on Tuesday :p  We were  under a blizzard warning and the major highways across the state closed down so the school called a snow day on Tuesday.  By the time we needed to leave for our appointments, it was clear and sunny and the roads plowed so off we went for double OT, social skills group, and then swim lessons.  For a snow day, we sure were busy ;)

A day off!

I woke to rain on my roof last night, a sound I haven't heard in a while and also a sign that spring is coming. Sure, we may get more snow and cold but the first rainfall also means that the end is in sight. Finally.

Of course, we woke up this morning to it raining ice balls :p We were pelted by them loading into the van to drive the Busy Little B to school so when I got home again I told the Super Kid I'd drive him to school rather than him getting pelted walking to the bus stop and waiting. Iz, William, and I ran an errand and then back home to enjoy the warmth of being inside out of the sleet :p

Usually Miss Iz has OT on Mondays so we pick up the Busy Little B but the scheduler at the rehab center was able to change her time slot to Tuesdays when we are already there for B. YAY!! One less trip per week and now I only have to entertain W in the waiting room instead of having two of them on two different days :p B will ride the bus home so no trip to school, either. I'm liking this ;)

We do still have to go out tonight, though--the Super Kid has parent teacher conferences. That ought to be fun with all four in tow ;)

We might have another leftie!

W's new OT, Miss K, has been watching his hand choices and while he's still young, she's thinking he might be a leftie (the Super Kid is.  I think I was supposed to be left-handed as well because I remember getting in trouble in school for using my left and having to switch to using my right whenever a teacher looked my way).  A lot of the time he will begin tasks with his left and then switch to the right when his left gets tired.  We are gently encouraging left hand use to building up his strength and stamina so when he does choose to do a task left-handed, he can continue to use it instead of having to switch.  I have an aunt who is ambidextrous so maybe he'll be one of the ones who can use both :p  The Super Kid and I can both write with both hands--its a skill he had to develop when he broke his left arm (twice in one year, a few months apart) and I've never lost the ability to write left-handed.

We had a busy afternoon of errands--post office, gas, groceries, household goods.  I didn't get to everything I needed to before it was time to meet the Busy Little B getting off the bus yesterday so at some point today I will need to take everyone out with me to get a few things done.  At minimum I need to pick up meds at the pharmacy because the seizure meds are running low.  

Good school reports!

I picked the Busy Little B up for school so he could go to OT and his teacher was telling me how much progress he's made recently in the social areas of school.  He's participating in small group more, doing partner work, talking to other kids, etc.  That social skills group he's doing through the local rehab center is really helping :) I'm noticing that he is more social and getting along better with other kids in waiting rooms as well.

He had a good OT session and his OT is so proud of him that he's handling things more calmly instead of with meltdowns.  We are still working on this at home ;)  Although he is doing better about talking things through instead of immediately jumping to being upset.  It is a work in progress!

It was also the big kids last night of this swim session so they got their certificates.  We haven't quite mastered all of the level one skills so they'll be repeating level one but they are all getting closer!  I think if the Super Kid really works at it, he could advance to level two soon.  Iz is getting close, too.  I think it will take the Busy Little B longer because he has such trouble coordinating all the different parts of his body (one of the things he works on in OT) but he's doing better each time :)

The Super Kid was finally feeling better yesterday.  He was home from school again because he hadn't hit the 24 hour mark but by late afternoon he was good to go so he went to OT at the rehab center.  He likes OT, likes the different therapists he works with but that anxiety gets to him so he's sometimes hesitant to try things in front of other people and is pretty stoic while there.  His temporary OT Miss S (the same Miss S that first worked with Iz) was teasing him last night that she almost saw him smile when they got him to try out the trapeze swing and he couldn't stop himself from grinning back at her :p  Now that he's tried out some of the swings and liked them, hopefully he'll be open to doing them again because its a great way to get that big motor movement he craves when he's sensory seeking.  I'd love to have a basement or something to set up swings and crash pads or something for my seekers!

Tuesdays are soooooo long

The Super Kid hasn't hit 24 hours sick free so he's still home from school.  He felt worse on Tuesday than Monday so he skipped getting out of the house and slept a lot.  Iz and W and I picked up the Busy Little B from school then took him to OT.  Then we rushed home to gather up all the swim stuff and do a little cleaning before rushing off again to social skills group.  There were a lot of people there today so there weren't enough chairs to sit.  I ended up holding W in my lap in a tiny chair and we watched Stick Man on my phone.  Then off to swim lessons for B and Iz (S stayed home).  On Tuesdays I don't have time to bring W to the nursery so  he stays with me and he wants to go swim so bad that the whole lesson is me basically fighting to keep W contained and distracted because POOL!  SWIM! WANT! PEASE! *sigh*

Still sick.....

I thought I was the only one to get the vomiting portion of the recent Sick but Super Kid came down with it Sunday night.  He was doing better all day Monday and coping fine with things like chicken soup and applesauce so he tried some "real" food at dinner Monday.  That did not end well so he is home again Tuesday and we are trying again :p

Monday afternoon was OT for Miss Iz.  She's had a flareup lately with emotional regulation so they worked on practicing  her self soothing strategies and she did really well.  She's been going through her "list" of things that help with me at home, too, because practicing when she's calm helps her remember what to do when she starts to feel panicky.

And it was our last Monday OT appointment!  A time slot with Iz's OT opened up on Tuesday when we are there for the Busy Little B so we have moved over.  One less trip to the rehab center every week plus only ONE kid to occupy in the waiting room on Tuesday instead of two every Monday and Tuesday.  Makes things easier for me and I'm all for that ;)

The Sick hit us hard

We passed around a stomach bug.  It hit me the hardest but everyone has some form of it and we all fell ill, like dominoes :p  We are down to some lingering sniffles and coughs so things are looking up!  We ended up canceling a lot of appointments but are getting back on schedule now :)

We talked it through....

Iz had OT today.  When Miss J brought her back to me, she said they had a really great session.  Miss J chose some difficult things to work on--in the past, Iz would have gotten frustrated and shut down but today, they were able to talk it through, figure it out, and keep on working and get it done :D  This is why she's homeschooled, so we can work on those skills and get her to a spot where she can return to school.  It is FANTASTIC that she did so well today :)

W loves the new OT

Today was our meeting with the new OT and he LOVES her.  He loved his old OT, Miss M, but he's responding so well to Miss K.  She had him doing things he has always refused to do plus she had him thinking it was his idea to do it :p  Miss K also got Miss Iz involved in doing OT and now Iz is telling everyone she's going to be a therapist when she grows up and she's already in training to be an OT LOL 

I made my life harder :p

I completely spaced out on the time of the Super Kid's appointments on Wednesday.

Normally, Wednesday is our "off" day--nothing scheduled, the Busy Little B rides the bus home instead of me picking him up, we just do some cleaning and cuddling and dinner in the afternoon and evening.  But with B going to the social skills group on Tuesdays, I had to reschedule (temporarily) S's OT and speech on Wednesday.

So S gets home from school and we immediately leave to get him to therapy.  We are rushed and in a hurry but at least we will be home in time to cook a fast dinner and get everyone to bed mostly on time so I don't set up the crock pot today.  We arrive at the rehab center.....and S's appointments are a full half hour later than we have shown up for *head desk*.  Its my fault, I marked the wrong time down because as soon as I saw the scheduled times I remembered Miss K telling me she could only schedule speech an hour later than normal (with OT staying in the same time slot).  So yesterday was a full hour and a half in the waiting room with the kids, we got home later than I anticipated so after cooking we sat down to eat at bedtime, everyone went to bed late (again), and no one wanted to get up this morning :p

*sigh*  at least next week I know!

Busy busy day

Still sick over here so yay :|

Yesterday was packed once lunch was over.  We picked up the Busy Little B, filled up the gas tank, took B to OT (he had a good day.  They are working on some hand strengthening right now because he's struggling with some of the fine motor stuff that requires strength), then we ran home and gathered up everything we need for swim lessons.  As soon as the Super Kid got home, we took off again because B started his social skills group.  He has been SO EXCITED about doing this because the psychologist who did his intake told him how much fun it would be and he'd get to play and there'd be games and art and stuff :p  The lobby of the place, though, is going to be a challenge to keep the others occupied and contained for the next ten weeks......

As soon as skills group was over, we took off again to go to the gym and get changed and get everyone over to the pool for lessons.  There wasn't enough time to check W into the nursery so he sat with me during lessons and oh, boy, that was NOT fun.  He wanted to swim and spent most of the lesson asking "poo-oo!  whim! poo-ooo!"

Then home again where the crockpot had dinner waiting for us and everyone was in bed an hour late.  The kids love swim lessons but twice a week for the next two months we are rushed and going to bed late :p

New OT!

We met W's new OT this morning (he got too comfortable with Miss M and just would not work for her.  So Miss K will be coming to see him now).  He was comfortable with her right away and talked up a storm.  We couldn't understand most of what he said but he sure did have a lot to say LOL  She played with him a bit, they looked at books, and she got to observe him in action.  We talked a lot about his history and some of the other kids and she's getting a game plan together on what to work on :) 

I am so tired

The Busy Little B was up at 5:30 this morning. Usually I have to drag him out of bed at 7:15.  But he got up, got dressed completely, and asked to play a game.  So 5:30 started our day.

W had speech today. He started out super shy but soon was participating and we had a good session.

Thursdays are open swim day at the warm pool so W goes to the kid gym/nursery and I take Iz to practice swimming and play.  A little over an hour of constant movement, either walking, swimming, or towing her about, combined with our 5:30 wake up call had me dragging by the end.

Home for lunch and then off to pick up the Busy Little B from school to take him to OT.  His regular OT, Miss A, was not in but he saw Miss S.  He's worked with her before so he had no hesitation going with her and jumping right into therapy :)

Now to just make it through evening chores, dinner, and bedtime.......I could fall asleep right now but there are hours yet to go!

Um, NO

The Busy Little B had OT today followed by his appointment to get his new orthotics.  He was kinda excited since the Super Kid and Miss Iz both have orthotics as well.  He picked this cool red pattern and so was bouncing all over the exam room while our orthotist, Mr. M, went to get them.  Mr. M brings them in, its time for the big reveal.......and they are not red.  Hot pink and black.  The Busy Little B looked at them and said "um, NO".  A few years ago, he would have been all for it because pink was his favorite color but then he changed his favorite to green or red and gave Miss Iz all his pink stuff (mostly, there are still a few toys he loves).

Mr. M says they discontinued the red B originally picked out but instead of contacting him to find out what pattern would be preferred, they just picked one and sent it out.  So Mr. M is re-ordering them in a camouflage this time (something B is really into right now--I'm surprised his camo tshirt isn't worn out from all the washing) and Miss Iz stared longingly at the hot pink inserts and wondered if maybe she could take them home and grow into them ;)  Mr. M is her orthotist as well and promised her that if she still loved the hot pink when it was time to get her next pair, he'd order a pair made just for her feet :)

OT Monday

Iz had OT yesterday and she was *so excited* to tell Miss J that on Sunday she ate all her vegetables and liked them!  One of the things they are working on is overcoming some of those aversions to the way things feel in her mouth so they work on different foods and different seasonings and Sunday night involved some roasted veggies, including things they've been trying raw in feeding therapy.  Roasted celery is a hit, she told Miss J that it tastes good when its cooked and its a new favorite (still can't top her number one favorite, steamed broccoli with butter).

They are also working on her core--she has low muscle tone, not bad enough for a diagnosis of whatever the medical term is for low tone, but significant enough that she had to do physical therapy and OT to work on it.  The PT ended last year but she's still working on strength with her OT.

The next step on our homeschooling journey

We have been rather isolated the last month or so as we recovered from the dramatic downturn in behavior and emotional/mental control Miss Iz took during the last months at school.  Her removal from that program has seen rapid progress and improvement but we have spent a lot of time at home and at therapy working through some of the anxiety and defiance and opposition that made a reappearance, especially when it was leading to the extreme aggression and flight we saw at school (and spilling over to home).  We haven't been complete hermits--we still went to the grocery store, appointments, etc, but once she started being able to interact with kids in the waiting room without outbursts, we tried kid gym, open swim, all leading up to the big one:  Playgroup!

Yesterday we went to our first one and she loved it!  She was anxious and nervous and she mostly kept to herself.  She did get upset at one point but she did exactly as she was supposed to--she retreated to a place away from other kids to calm down and then she and I talked through what was upsetting and the best ways to respond in the future (practicing what she should do is a big part of her strategy because once it becomes second nature, its easier to put into practice during a high anxiety or high conflict situation).  She did awesome!  She's looking forward to the next outing :)

Yahoo!

The Busy Little B had OT yesterday.  Remember how last week he agreed to clip a couple of fingernails?  And how huge this is for him since he registers nail clipping as pain and they've been working for months to desensitize him a bit so we can clip?  Yesterday at OT he decided to clip his toenails and did ALL TEN.  We had a little celebration right there in the waiting room LOL  He asked for help putting his socks on this morning--he didn't really need help, he just wanted me to look at his toes.  He was all grins and giggles when I told him how handsome his feet were with his nicely clipped nails.  I really hope this trend of him not only tolerating clipping but deciding on his own to do it continues!

Check Engine Light is finally off!

Remember last week when my check engine light went on?  It was a misfiring cylinder 6 and our first step was to use a cleaner to see if getting all the injectors and such cleaned would help.  It did a little but the cylinder was still misfiring.

MrP was home for a day and a half and he braved the cold to fix the cylinder. He checked spark plugs and wires and things and discovered some other part that involves all six cylinders wasn't working properly.  A coil?  Maybe?  I'm not a car person, I have no idea what it really was LOL  It cost 52 and change and now my van runs beautifully again so that's the important part ;)  I'd hate to know what the bill would have been if I had needed to take it to a mechanic!

The Long Day

Right now, Tuesdays are our long day. But this past Tuesday I got a break!

Took W to his swim lesson (and Miss Iz went to Kid Gym).  The swim class after ours didn't show so we stayed longer and played about in the pool and W practiced some more of his skills.  Then off home and Mr. Piper arrived!  He's been on the road and we weren't supposed to see him until next week but he had to wait for his coworkers to pass by to meet up with them (they drive the buildings, MrP is their escort driver) so we got an unexpected visit.  So after lunch, we all went to pick up the Busy Little B to go to OT.  He had a good session and worked on fine motor control (kid is opposed to silverware so we are working on getting him more comfortable with it so we can end the eating with fingers thing :p) as well as balance (he wants to ride a bike but he can't coordinate balance and movement so he's working on getting balance down first and then adding in the movement so he can pedal at the same time.  All my kids have trouble making both sides of the body work in coordination so its slow going but he'll get there!).

On Tuesdays the Super Kid also has appointments after school.  OT every week and speech every other week.  Because MrP is home, he took the Super Kid while I stayed home with the other three.  This is a nice break for me :p  Sometimes MrP will stay home and I get to go alone to wait for the Super Kid to get done and read a book in peace and quiet but I wanted to get a few things done at home so I opted to stay.

The Busy Little B sure was glad I stayed because I made his very favorite meal ever, ready to eat as soon as MrP and the Super Kid got home :D

A New OT? Oh, no!

Today was OT day for Miss Iz and her regular OT was out.  In the past, one of the OTs she's worked with in the past picked up for her regular OT but today was someone new and poor Iz just shut down when she came up and introduced herself.  She did a really nice job overcoming that anxiety, though--I reminded her how much she loves OT and asked if she could go and show the new OT  her favorite things to do and she overcame that anxiety and went back and ended up having a very nice session :)  A month ago and that would not have happened!

Shelly the tortoise

Our local zoo has a storytime every weekend and while we don't make it all the time, the kids really enjoy it when we do get over there.  They usually read a short story but the highlight of the visit is the animal they bring to introduce to the kids.  This week was a 27 year old yellow footed tortoise named Shelly :)

Guess what day it is?

OT Day!!!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself ;)

We started our day with in-home speech for W.  He has been rather quiet lately but he had a lot to tell Miss H today and toys to show her.  It was cute :p

 Once speech was over, we packed up and headed for the gym.  W went to the kid gym while I took Miss Iz to open swim at the warm pool.  Her lessons do not start again until February but she wants to practice her skills so she can hopefully graduate to level two after this set of lessons.  So we practiced floating and kicking and she showed off she can swim independently for a couple feet/strokes.  And we just played for a while.  We were in the pool for a little over an hour and I'm kinda tired now LOL.

We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items, had a super quick lunch at home, and then off to pick up the Busy Little B at school.   My check engine light had come on so we stopped at Advance Auto Parts on the way to the rehab center to make sure it was nothing imminent.  I have a misfiring cylinder :\  Just what I needed!

OT for B went well.  He's been working hard!   

OT day again!

We had a busy day yesterday.

After the boys were off to school and breakfast was eaten, off we went to the gym.  Iz went to kid gym and W went to his parent-child swim lesson.  Only one other parent-child set showed up and they left early so W got lots of extra attention from the instructor.  We stayed an extra fifteen minutes because the kids for the next class were late.  Once they showed up, though, W and I headed out--even though it was an open swim time in the pool and we could have stayed, if his instructor is teaching a class, he thinks he should be right there, too :p

Iz had fun in the kid gym and when we picked her up she was sitting with another little girl looking at books together :)

Home for lunch then off to collect the Busy Little B from school so he could go to OT.  B got extra prizes in OT because he spotted a pair of nail clippers and voluntarily clipped one of his nails!  This may seem like no big deal but B is extremely tactile defensive in many areas and one of the worst is his nails.  Kid's brain processes the sensations of clipping as extreme pain and one of the things he has been working on in OT (unsuccessfully up until this point, I might add) is desensitizing his fingertips so nail grooming can happen.  It was a HUGE moment for him :)

After that we headed home to wait for the Super Kid and then took him straight back to the rehab center we had just left so he could have OT :p  He has always had really low strength in his hands and this has made things like tying shoes and writing rather painful as his hands tire quickly.  His handwriting has improved to the point where its actually quite nice when he starts out but as his hands begin to hurt, his writing is barely legible.  He's done OT in the past to help improve hand strength but they are working on it again.

Miss Iz and W were sure excited about school this morning!  We didn't even make it through breakfast before Iz was doing math worksheets and then they finished eating while watching a Magic Schoolbus episode about air pressure :p

This afternoon was OT.  One of Iz's goals is to be able to tolerate trying foods, particularly vegetables.  She used to eat just about everything but over the last year, the list has dwindled dramatically and she was complaining about the feel of food.  This past week she has skipped many a meal because it didn't look like it would "feel right" and she refused to eat.  So OT includes a bit of feeding therapy as well to overcome the sensory aversion.  She tried all kinds of stuff at OT today :p  Now if we could just get her to eat at home!  She helped me cook dinner (chili) and she actually ate an entire serving so progress, eh?

Later in the afternoon we had to take the Busy Little B back again to do an intake appointment/evaluation with one of the psychologists.  He's going to do a ten week social skills group with other kids his age starting next month.  B is friendly but his friendships are very surface level and he doesn't actually interact with kids very much.  Hopefully this will help!

Iz had developmental clinic today.  We are checking in every six months to a year depending on how things are going and developmental takes a look at all therapies and things to see if we are missing anything.  At the moment we are doing all we can be doing but Miss E did give me a list of homeschooling resources (she has several homeschooled kids in her practice) and did do a referral to the new neuropsychologist to see about some educational testing if Iz is old enough for it.  With both older brothers diagnosed with the same learning disabilities and Iz struggling with some of the same things they did at this age, Miss E said it can't hurt to check into it early because if we can catch it now, we can work on it earlier.

Overall a good visit :)

Today felt absurdly busy :p

We started off our day with some speech therapy for W.  At first, he just wanted to hide but by the end, he was mad we had to stop LOL

We left immediately after speech to drive cross town so W could have his swim lesson!  Miss Iz went into the kids gym and there were a LOT of kids there for her to play with.  One of the workers asked another "why are there so many kids here today!?" and the second worker just looked at her and said "Its January."  Resolution month ;)

When W and I got to swim I discovered we were at the wrong class.  I signed him up for a level one class but he is supposed to be in a level two class (same class, just divided by age) which is on Tuesday.  This is the first time the gym has used an online registration system and our swim instructor says everyone is showing up for the "wrong" classes because there were just too many glitches with the system.  She said we can go to whichever class we want but it actually works out better for us to go on Tuesdays so we don't have to rush after speech.  We did the Thursday class today and will switch to Tuesdays next week.  And this is better for Miss Iz, too, as it looks like one of the local homeschool groups meets on Thursday morning fairly regularly so maybe she can make some buddies to play with.

We did a milk run after swim and then home for lunch and then off again to pick up the Busy Little B.  He had OT after school (and he loves Miss A so going twice a week is fine by him) followed immediately by Miss Iz's appointment with her psychologist Miss J.

By the time we got home again, I was tired :p

A very busy day

We had a busy day yesterday and it felt like I was constantly trying to catch up.

We didn't make it through our homeschooling list as quickly as we normally do so Iz and I ended up doing her "research project" in the waiting room of the rehabilitation center the kids do things like PT, OT, and speech at :p  A couple times a week I pick a topic for her to search online for--we are starting young on the basics of research and reliable sources--so instead of me teaching her something, she's getting the information on her own (sort of, I still read it to her and help explain it so she can understand).  Yesterday's topic was "why things float" so we had a good discussion on density and buoyancy :)  Why, you may ask?

After the Busy Little B had OT (and we ran home for half an  hour to wait for the Super Kid to come home from school so we could go right back to the rehab center) and The Super Kid had both speech and OT, we headed for the gym for the next session of swim lessons!  They were so excited :D  Got there, got all changed, got down to the pool, waited for the teachers and other kids to show up......and nobody did.  There were adult classes in the pool and lap swim but no swim lessons.  OOPS.  Apparently I marked down January in my calendar but big kid lessons are in February.  Sorry, kids!  Baby W is the one who does lessons in January (starting tomorrow).  So my dejected kids got changed and we went home to eat and go to bed :p

Iz had OT yesterday--her OT is so pleased with how much better sessions are going since she switched to homeschooling.  It was hard for them to make any progress when she was struggling to have any type of control over her actions and emotions and self-regulation.  We still have moments of intense struggle but those moments are fewer and further between and she pulls herself together much quicker.  While the school can claim success with their program with many kids, Iz's rapid downward spiral was pretty clear to everyone but the school that the program was having the opposite effect for her.  She made better progress at her old school with the help of her outside therapies!  So we continue with the outside therapies and get her mental/emotional health and anxiety in a good place so school can become a possibility later :)

After OT, the Busy Little B had molds taken of his feet so he can be the third kid to get custom orthotics :p  He thought it was super cool--wait until the orthotics come in and he realizes they will be touching his feet--the excitement will vanish!

Homeschooling

We are finding our homeschooling "feet" and getting into a routine :)

A dear friend of mine and her mum tracked down some books and resources for us and shipped them off--Iz loved going to the post office to pick them up, unpacking them, deciding where to keep them, and most of all, reading them!  We have already read a few of them multiple times and one has made its way to the first thing we do every day (the Monster Alphabet book) as a review of what the letters are because she is still working on letter recognition.

Someone in the local homeshcool facebook page suggested the Read Aloud Revival page as a good book list resource so I followed her and have had the bonus benefits of getting both Iz and the Busy Little B into this month's reading challenge (they are so excited about it) as well as a post about keeping organized and planning out your school day.  We are using a spiral notebook to keep track daily of what we plan to do and what we actually do.  Iz loves to check off the box after we complete an activity and I have been having her fill in the titles of the books we read to practice handwriting.  We usually spend an hour or two (depending on how fast she breezes through her work.  Right now we are still in the review phase where she already knows a lot of this stuff but since I do not know exactly what they worked on in school, we started from the beginning and she's moving pretty quickly through the stuff right now.  I fully expect as things get  unfamiliar or harder we will have to up how much time we spend) on math and reading activities in the morning and try to do something hands-on in the afternoon.

Her favorite hands-on so far is baking :p  I have her measure out the ingredients and I usually give her a smaller measuring cup than what we need so she needs to measure out a couple times and then add her measurements together to ensure she has the right total.  This morning we watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy episode on the earth's crust so after we do our baking, we are going to make  our own volcano in the sink, just like Bill did on the show (side bonus, it will clean my drain and garbage disposal LOL).  There is a new dinosaur exhibit opening at the natural history museum next week so I think we need to add in some lessons on dinosaurs so we can do a field trip :p

Mornings

On A School Day:

*alarm goes off*

Kids:  zzzzzzz..*mumbling* too tired, can't get up.....


On A Non-School day:

*an hour before alarm goes off*

Kids: IT IS MORNING!! *bounces on mom* IT IS MORNING

School is back in session

The big boys went back to school on Wednesday so we are settling back into our "normal" routine.

Before break, my Busy Little B had full educational and psychological evaluations at school to update his IEP.  They identified learning disabilities (same ones as the Super Kid)--he had already been receiving extra help in those areas but now its "official" and his time is upped a bit.  His twice weekly OT sessions are helping with some executive functioning issues as he has been improving!  His OT has been doing some therapeutic listening with him as well to help desensitize him to all the noise in the classroom because he's been finding all the noise and movement in the mainstream classroom overwhelming sometimes.  Slow progress is still progress :)

OT day

The Busy Little B and the Super Kid had OT today.  During B's visit, they noticed his feet are beginning to roll inward like S and Iz.  His OT pulled in the PT and the orthotist and both agree he needs custom orthotics.  So I shot an email over to the pediatrician--he's pretty good about writing out a referral if I request it so I imagine it shouldn't take long for the rehab center to get the script and get him scheduled to have molds taken of his feet so they can make the orthotics. I have a feeling his OT is going to need to really work with him to get him to tolerate the orthotics, though!

It is the last day of Winter Break.  Our appointment schedule resets to "normal" today and tomorrow we add school back into the mix.  Time to buckle down again and return to the hectic schedule that is our normal!

W's OT "fired" him a few weeks ago.  He is just not responding to her anymore.  He's been with her the longest of all his therapists and he really loves her, he just is too comfortable with her and won't cooperate anymore.  So she referred him back to the coordinator who found a new OT to work with him but it won't be until later this month

Another day of double digits below zero!  Its so cold both Iz and W have voluntarily gotten dressed LOL  W brought me pj bottoms, a long sleeved shirt, and a hoodie to help him put on :p